Herbie Hancock @ All About Jazz Read more Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while still maintaining his unique, unmistakable voice. Herbie's success at expanding the possibilities of musical thought has placed him in the annals of this century's visionaries. With an illustrious career spanning five decades, he continues to amaze audiences and never ceases to expand the public's vision of what music, particularly jazz, is all about today. Herbie Hancock's creative path has moved fluidly between almost every development in acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B since 1960. He has attained an enviable balance of commercial and artistic success, arriving at a point in his career where he ventures into every new project motivated purely by the desire to expand the boundaries of his creativity. There are few artists in the music industry who have gained more respect and cast more influence than Herbie Hancock.

As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven't heard anybody yet who has come after him. Born in Chicago in 1940, Herbie was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the tender age of 11. He began playing jazz in high school, initially influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. Also at this time, an additional passion for electronic science began to develop. As a result, he took a double major in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. In 1960, at age 20, Herbie was discovered by trumpeter Donald Byrd, who asked him to join his group. Byrd also introduced Herbie to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records, and after two years of session work with the likes of Phil Woods and Oliver Nelson, he signed to the legendary label as a solo artist. His 1963 debut album, Takin’ Off, was an immediate success, producing “Watermelon Man,” a big hit on jazz and R&B radio.

Also in 1963, Herbie received the call that was to change his life and secure his place in jazz history. Miles Davis invited Herbie to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Herbie and his colleagues thrilled audiences and recorded classic after classic, including the albums ESP, Nefertiti, and Sorcerer. Most jazz critics and fans regard this group, which also included Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums), as the greatest small jazz group of the 1960s. Even after he left Davis' group, Herbie still made appearances on Davis' groundbreaking recordings In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, which heralded the birth of jazz-fusion. Simultaneous with his work for Miles, Herbie's own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, creating such classic albums as Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles, and Speak Like a Child. In 1966, he composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film, Blow Up.

This led to a successful career in feature film and television music, including music for Bill Cosby’s Emmy-winning Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert and many other film scores in following years. 1970s: The Headhunters and VSOP After leaving Miles Davis in 1968, Herbie stepped full-time into the new electronic jazz-funk that was sweeping the world. Herbie gathered a new band called The Headhunters and, in 1973, recorded Head Hunters--a hugely successful crossover hit which became the first jazz album to go platinum. With its Sly Stone-influenced hit single Chameleon, this album (and its follow-up, Thrust) signaled once and for all that Herbie Hancock would not be pigeonholed or categorized. By mid-decade, Herbie was playing for stadium-sized crowds all over the world and had no fewer than four albums in the pop charts at once. In total, Herbie had eleven albums in the pop charts during the 1970s.

What's even more remarkable about Herbie's ’70s output is the inspiration and inexhaustible supply of samples he provided for the generations of hip hop and dance music artists that followed almost twenty years after these recordings were at their peak popularity. This, though, would not be the only time in his career that Herbie’s work would have such an influence. Not content to travel one creative path, Herbie also stayed close to his love of acoustic jazz in the ’70s. He recorded and performed with VSOP (a reunification of the ’60s Miles Davis Quintet, substituting the great Freddie Hubbard for Davis), with various trios and quartets under his own name, and in duet settings with fellow pianists Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson. 1980s: Future Shock, Film & TV In 1980, Herbie introduced the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to the world as a solo artist, producing the young musician's debut album and touring with him as well. In 1983, a new pull to the alternative side led Herbie to a series of collaborations with the notorious musical architect Bill Laswell.

The first, Future Shock, again struck platinum, and the single Rockit rocked the dance and R&B charts, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental. Moreover, the video of the track, created by Kevin Godley and Lol Crème, won five MTV awards. Sound System, the follow-up to Future Shock, also received a Grammy in the R&B instrumental category. Once again, Herbie Hancock had blazed a new path for younger musicians to follow. In addition to his Grammy and MTV Award successes, Herbie won an Oscar in 1986 for scoring the film 'Round Midnight--in which he also appeared as an actor. During this time, he composed the soundtracks for a number of other films including Colors, Jo Jo Dancer, Action Jackson and Harlem Nights. Numerous television appearances over the years led to two hosting assignments in the 1980s. The first, Rock School, was an innovative educational music show for PBS, the second, Showtime's Coast To Coast, was a unique series of in-concert performances, interviews and collaborations, and ran from 1989-91.

1990s: Verve Records and Headhunters Reunited Herbie once again scaled the charts in 1994, but in a most unique way. A British hip-hop group called US3 sampled a classic Blue Note side, Cantaloupe Island, for a track called Cantaloop which became a huge international hit for Herbie's old label. The track went Top 20 in a number of countries and was licensed countless times for TV commercials and promos, leading to the resurrection of many great Herbie Hancock tracks throughout the decade. Herbie signed to the Polygram Label Group in 1994. After an adventurous pop-oriented project for Mercury Records, Dis Is Da Drum, he moved on to Polygram's Verve label, forming an all-star band to record 1996's Grammy- winning The New Standard. This album, another landmark, adapted rock and R&B tunes from recent times to a straight ahead jazz format. In 1997, an eloquent and daring album of duets with Wayne Shorter, 1+1, was released.

The legendary Headhunters reunited in 1998, recording an album for Herbie's own Verve-distributed imprint, and touring with the Dave Matthews Band at the arena-rock giant's own request. But the crowning achievement of Herbie Hancock's Verve years thus far has been Gershwin's World. Recorded and released in 1998, this masterwork brought artists from all over the musical spectrum together in a celebration of George Gershwin and his entire artistic milieu. Herbie's collaborators included Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Kathleen Battle, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Gershwin's World won three Grammies in 1999, including Best Traditional Jazz Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance for Stevie Wonder's St. Louis Blues. The entire music world celebrated this album as one of the very finest in Herbie Hancock's incomparable career.

At the end of 1999, Herbie joined two partners--his manager David Passick and former Verve Records president Chuck Mitchell--to form Transparent Music, a multi-media music company dedicated to the presentation of barrier-breaking music of all types, at all tiers of distribution including recordings, films and TV, concert events and the Internet. 2000 and Today: FUTURE2FUTURE and Possibilities In yet another innovative stylistic move, Herbie reunited with Bill Laswell in the creation of a 21st Century collaboration with some of the young hip-hop and techno artists who have drawn on his massive influence to create their own music of the future. The album was released in spring, 2001, and is entitled FUTURE2FUTURE. Another collaborative work followed in 2002 when Herbie teamed with Roy Hargrove and Michael Becker to record a live concert album, Directions In Music: Live at Massey Hall--a tribute to John Coltrane and Miles Davis. The three musicians then embarked upon a tour.

His latest studio project, Possibilities, released in August 2005 is aptly named, as it consists of an even wider-ranging collection of sounds and styles than his previous collaborative works. For Possibilities, Herbie teamed with established artists such as Sting, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Paul Simon and Carlos Santana, as well as serious up-and-comers like Joss Stone and Damien Rice. Also in 2005, Herbie re-staffed his famed Headhunters ensemble with a host of notable names such as guitarists John Mayer and Lionel Loueke, bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, trumpeter Roy Hargrove and percussionist Munyungo Jackson to play a number of concert dates in the summer. Herbie Hancock also maintains a thriving career outside the performing stage and recording studio. Since 1991, he has been the Distinguished Artist in Residence at Jazz Aspen Snowmass in Colorado; a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and performance of jazz and American music. Herbie also serves as Institute Chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the foremost international organization devoted to the development of jazz performance and education worldwide.

He has taken on a number of roles on behalf of the institute, from competition judge to master class teacher, to guest performer with the Institute's prestigious college program. Now in the fifth decade of his professional life, Herbie Hancock remains where he has always been: in the forefront of world culture, technology, business and music. Though one can't track exactly where he will go next, he is sure to leave his own inimitable creative style and imprint wherever he lands. Herbie Hancock - Thrust - Amazon.com Music Herbie Hancock Next Special Offers and Product Promotions Audio CD (February 26, 2016) Original Release Date: February 26, 2016 Number of Discs: 1 VINE VOICE on May 21, 2006 Format: Audio CD Although I enjoyed the Headhunters album (1973), this 1974 release is a bit more appealing - and it has nothing to do with the sci-fi cover art.

In general, the playing on this album seems further out there and a bit more sophisticated, even though the only thing that changed was the addition of jaw-dropping virtuoso drummer Mike Clark (shows you just how important the drummer is I guess). The musicians on this album include the keyboard wizard himself Herbie Hancock playing "traditional" jazz-rock instruments (Fender Rhodes electric piano and Hohner D-6 clavinet) along with just about every synthesizer ARP manufactured in 1974 (ARP Odyssey, ARP Pro Soloist, ARP 2600, and ARP String Ensemble); Bernie Maupin (soprano and tenor saxophone, saxello, bass clarinet, and flute); Paul Jackson (electric bass guitar); Paul Summers (percussion); and drummer extraordinaire Mike Clark (who went on to jam with English jazz rock group Brand X). Stylistically, this album fuses elements of traditional (straight) jazz with both jazz-rock and funk. With respect to the funk styles, the funk is not the more pop-oriented style of Sly and the Family Stone.

This funk is deeply sophisticated and utilizes just about every odd time signature under the sun, which is largely an artifact of Mike Clarks' nimble and intricate technique (Actual Proof is a great example). Furthermore, his emphasis on subtle hesitations within a given bar lends the music an almost "choppy" and "off-kilter" feel. In fact, based upon Mike's comments in the liner notes (that he wrote), he seemed unwilling to play anything straight - I for one am glad, because I do not care for straight funk that much. Come to think of it, I am a progressive rock fan for crying out loud. Read more › Herbie Hancock for Piano - Guides Herbie Hancock On The Tonight Show "Actual Proof" Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer. [1] As part of Miles Davis 's Second Great Quintet , Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the " post-bop " sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and funk music (characterized by syncopated drum beats).

Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz . In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel . Hancock's best-known solo works include " Cantaloupe Island ", " Watermelon Man " (later performed by dozens of musicians, including bandleader Mongo Santamaría ), " Maiden Voyage ", " Chameleon ", and the singles "I Thought It Was You" and " Rockit ". His 2007 tribute album River: The Joni Letters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year , only the second jazz album ever to win the award, after Getz/Gilberto in 1965. Hancock practices Nichiren Buddhism and is a member of the Buddhist association S?ka Gakkai International . [2] [3] [4] As part of Hancock's spiritual practice, he recites the Buddhist chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo each day.

[5] In 2013, Hancock's dialogue with Wayne Shorter and Daisaku Ikeda on jazz, Buddhism and life was published in Japanese. On July 22, 2011, at a ceremony in Paris, Hancock was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Intercultural Dialogue. In 2013 Hancock joined the University of California, Los Angeles faculty as a professor in the UCLA music department where he will teach jazz music. [6] Hancock is the 2014 Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. Holders of the chair deliver a series of six lectures on poetry, "The Norton Lectures", poetry being "interpreted in the broadest sense, including all poetic expression in language, music, or fine arts." Previous Norton lecturers include musicians Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky and John Cage. Hancock's theme is "The Ethics of Jazz." [7] Contents 14 External links Early life and career[ edit ] Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois , the son of Winnie Belle (Griffin), a secretary, and Wayman Edward Hancock, a government meat inspector. [8] He attended the Wendell Phillips High School.

Like many jazz pianists, Hancock started with a classical music education. He studied from age seven, and his talent was recognized early. Considered a child prodigy , [9] he played the first movement of Mozart 's Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major, K. 537 (Coronation) at a young people's concert on February 5, 1952, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (led by CSO assistant conductor George Schick) at age 11. [10] Through his teens, Hancock never had a jazz teacher, but developed his ear and sense of harmony. He was also influenced by records of the vocal group the Hi-Lo's . He reported that: the time I actually heard the Hi-Lo's, I started picking that stuff out; my ear was happening. I could hear stuff and that's when I really learned some much farther-out voicings – like the harmonies I used on Speak Like a Child – just being able to do that. I really got that from Clare Fischer 's arrangements for the Hi-Lo's. Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept... He and Bill Evans , and Ravel and Gil Evans , finally.

You know, that's where it came from. [11] In 1960, he heard Chris Anderson play just once, and begged him to accept him as a student. [12] Hancock often mentions Anderson as his harmonic guru. Hancock left Grinnell College , moved to Chicago and began working with Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins , during which period he also took courses at Roosevelt University . (He later graduated from Grinnell with degrees in electrical engineering and music. Grinnell also awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 1972. [10] [13] ) Donald Byrd was attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York at the time and suggested that Hancock study composition with Vittorio Giannini , which he did for a short time in 1960. The pianist quickly earned a reputation, and played subsequent sessions with Oliver Nelson and Phil Woods . He recorded his first solo album Takin' Off for Blue Note Records in 1962.

" Watermelon Man " (from Takin' Off) was to provide Mongo Santamaría with a hit single, but more importantly for Hancock, Takin' Off caught the attention of Miles Davis , who was at that time assembling a new band. Hancock was introduced to Davis by the young drummer Tony Williams , a member of the new band. Miles Davis Quintet (1963–1968) and Blue Note Records (1962–1969)[ edit ] Hancock received considerable attention when, in May 1963, [10] he joined Davis's Second Great Quintet . Davis personally sought out Hancock, whom he saw as one of the most promising talents in jazz. The rhythm section Davis organized was young but effective, comprising bassist Ron Carter , 17-year-old drummer Williams, and Hancock on piano. After George Coleman and Sam Rivers each took a turn at the saxophone spot, the quintet would gel with Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone . This quintet is often regarded as one of the finest jazz ensembles[ by whom? ], and the rhythm section has been especially praised for its innovation and flexibility[ by whom? ].

The second great quintet was where Hancock found his own voice as a pianist. Not only did he find new ways to use common chords, but he also popularized chords that had not previously been used in jazz. Hancock also developed a unique taste for "orchestral" accompaniment – using quartal harmony and Debussy -like harmonies, with stark contrasts then unheard of in jazz. With Williams and Carter he wove a labyrinth of rhythmic intricacy on, around and over existing melodic and chordal schemes. In the latter half of the 1960s their approach became so sophisticated and unorthodox that conventional chord changes would hardly be discernible; hence their improvisational concept would become known as "Time, No Changes".[ citation needed ] While in Davis's band, Hancock also found time to record dozens of sessions for the Blue Note label, both under his own name and as a sideman with other musicians such as Shorter, Williams, Grant Green , Bobby Hutcherson , Rivers, Byrd, Kenny Dorham , Hank Mobley , Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard .

His albums Empyrean Isles (1964) and Maiden Voyage (1965) were to be two of the most famous and influential jazz LPs of the 1960s, winning praise for both their innovation and accessibility (the latter demonstrated by the subsequent enormous popularity of the Maiden Voyage title track as a jazz standard, and by the jazz rap group US3 having a hit single with " Cantaloop " (derived from "Cantaloupe Island" on Empyrean Isles) some twenty five years later). Empyrean Isles featured the Davis rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams with the addition of Hubbard on cornet , while Maiden Voyage also added former Davis saxophonist Coleman (with Hubbard remaining on trumpet). Both albums are regarded as among the principal foundations of the post-bop style.[ citation needed ] Hancock also recorded several less-well-known but still critically acclaimed albums with larger ensembles – My Point of View (1963), Speak Like a Child (1968) and The Prisoner (1969) featured flugelhorn , alto flute and bass trombone .

1963's Inventions and Dimensions was an album of almost entirely improvised music, teaming Hancock with bassist Paul Chambers and two Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahua" Martinez . During this period, Hancock also composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni 's film Blowup (1966), the first of many soundtracks he recorded in his career. Davis had begun incorporating elements of rock and popular music into his recordings by the end of Hancock's tenure with the band. Despite some initial reluctance, Hancock began doubling on electric keyboards including the Fender Rhodes electric piano at Davis's insistence. Hancock adapted quickly to the new instruments, which proved to be instrumental in his future artistic endeavors. Under the pretext that he had returned late from a honeymoon in Brazil , Hancock was dismissed from Davis's band. In the summer of 1968 Hancock formed his own sextet. However, although Davis soon disbanded his quintet to search for a new sound, Hancock, despite his departure from the working band, continued to appear on Davis records for the next few years. Noteworthy appearances include In a Silent Way , A Tribute to Jack Johnson and On the Corner .

Fat Albert (1969) and Mwandishi (1971)[ edit ] Hancock playing a Roland AX-7 keytar , at The Roundhouse , Camden , London, 2006 Hancock left Blue Note in 1969, signing with Warner Bros. Records . In 1969, Hancock composed the soundtrack for the Bill Cosby animated children's television show Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids . Titled Fat Albert Rotunda (1969), the album was mainly an R&B -influenced album with strong jazz overtones. One of the jazzier songs on the record, "Tell Me a Bedtime Story", was later re-worked as a more electronic sounding song for the Quincy Jones album, Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! (1978). Hancock became fascinated with accumulating musical gadgets and toys. Together with the profound influence of Davis's Bitches Brew (1970), this fascination would culminate in a series of albums, in which electronic instruments are coupled with acoustic instruments.

Hancock's first ventures into electronic music started with a sextet comprising Hancock, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart , and a trio of horn players: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Julian Priester ( trombone ), and multireedist Bennie Maupin . Dr. Patrick Gleeson was eventually added to the mix to play and program the synthesizers. In fact, Hancock was one of the first jazz pianists to completely embrace electronic keyboards.[ citation needed ] The sextet, later a septet with the addition of Gleeson, made three albums under Hancock's name: Mwandishi (1971), Crossings (1972) (both on Warner Bros. Records), and Sextant (1973) (released on Columbia Records ); two more, Realization and Inside Out, were recorded under Henderson's name with essentially the same personnel. The music exhibited strong improvisational aspect beyond the confines of jazz mainstream and showed influence from the electronic music of contemporary classical composers.

Synthesizer player Gleeson, one of the first musicians to play synthesizer on any jazz recording, introduced the instrument on Crossings, released in 1972, one of a handful of influential electronic jazz/fusion recordings to feature synthesizer that year. On Crossings (as well as on Weather Report 's I Sing the Body Electric ), the synthesizer is used more as an improvisatory global orchestration device than as a strictly melodic instrument. An early review of Crossings in Downbeat magazine complained about the synthesizer, but a few years later the magazine noted in a cover story on Gleeson that he was "a pioneer" in the field of electronics in jazz. In the albums following The Crossings, Hancock started to play synth himself, with synth taking on a melodic role. Hancock's three records released in 1971–1973 later became known as the "Mwandishi" albums, so-called after a Swahili name Hancock sometimes used during this era (Mwandishi is Swahili for writer). The first two, including Fat Albert Rotunda were made available on the 2-CD set Mwandishi: the Complete Warner Bros.

Recordings, released in 1994, but are now sold as individual CD editions. Of the three electronic albums, Sextant is probably the most experimental since the ARP synthesizers are used extensively, and some advanced improvisation ("post-modal free impressionism") is found on the tracks "Hornets" and "Hidden Shadows" (which is in the meter 19/4).[ citation needed ] "Hornets" was later revised on the 2001 album Future2Future as "Virtual Hornets". Among the instruments Hancock and Gleeson used were Fender Rhodes piano, ARP Odyssey , ARP 2600 , ARP Pro Soloist Synthesizer, a Mellotron and the Moog synthesizer III. All three Warner Bros. albums Fat Albert Rotunda (1969), Mwandishi (1971), and Crossings (1972), were remastered in 2001 and released in Europe but were not released in the US as of June 2005.

In the winter of 2006–7 a remastered edition of Crossings was announced and scheduled for release in the spring.[ needs update ] From Head Hunters (1973) to Secrets (1976)[ edit ] See also: Head Hunters Hancock playing in Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands, December, 2006 After the sometimes "airy" and decidedly experimental "Mwandishi" albums, Hancock was eager to perform more "earthy" and " funky " music. The Mwandishi albums – though later seen as respected early fusion recordings – had seen mixed reviews and poor sales, so it is probable that Hancock was motivated by financial concerns as well as artistic restlessness.[ citation needed ] Hancock was also bothered by the fact that many people did not understand avant-garde music. He explained that he loved funk music, especially Sly Stone 's music, so he wanted to try to make funk himself. He gathered a new band, which he called The Headhunters , keeping only Maupin from the sextet and adding bassist Paul Jackson , percussionist Bill Summers , and drummer Harvey Mason .

The album Head Hunters , released in 1973, was a major hit and crossed over to pop audiences, though it prompted criticism from some jazz fans. Despite charges of " selling out ", Stephen Erlewine of AllMusic positively reviewed the album among other friendly critics, saying, "Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital three decades after its initial release, and its genre -bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul , and hip-hop ." [14] Drummer Mason was replaced by Mike Clark , and the band released a second album, Thrust , the following year, 1974. (A live album from a Japan performance, consisting of compositions from those first two Head Hunters releases was released in 1975 as Flood . The record has since been released on CD in Japan.) This was almost as well received as its predecessor, if not attaining the same level of commercial success. The Headhunters made another successful album called Survival of the Fittest in 1975 without Hancock, while Hancock himself started to make even more commercial albums, often featuring members of the band, but no longer billed as The Headhunters.

The Headhunters reunited with Hancock in 1998 for Return of the Headhunters , and a version of the band (featuring Jackson and Clark) continues to play live and record. In 1973, Hancock composed his second masterful soundtrack to the controversial film The Spook Who Sat by the Door . Then in 1974, he also composed the soundtrack to the first Death Wish film. One of his memorable songs, "Joanna's Theme", would later be re-recorded in 1997 on his duet album with Shorter, 1 + 1 . Hancock's next jazz-funk albums of the 1970s were Man-Child (1975), and Secrets (1976), which point toward the more commercial direction Hancock would take over the next decade. These albums feature the members of the Headhunters band, but also a variety of other musicians in important roles. From V.S.O.P. (1976–) to Future Shock (1983)[ edit ] During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hancock toured with his V.S.O.P.

quintet , which featured all the members of the 1960s Davis quintet except Davis, who was replaced by trumpeter Hubbard. There was constant speculation that one day Davis would reunite with his classic band, but he never did so. VSOP recorded several live albums in the late 1970s, including The Quintet (1977). In 1978, Hancock recorded a duet with Chick Corea , who had replaced him in the Davis band a decade earlier. Hancock also released a solo acoustic piano album titled The Piano (1979), which, like so many Hancock albums at the time, was initially released only in Japan. (It was finally released in the US in 2004.) Several other Japan-only releases have yet[ when? ] to appear in the US, such as Dedication (1974), V.S.O.P.'s Tempest in the Colosseum (1977), and Direct Step (1978). Live Under the Sky was a VSOP album remastered for the US in 2004, and included an entire second concert from the July 1979 tour.

From 1978 to 1982, Hancock recorded many albums consisting of jazz-inflected disco and pop music, beginning with Sunlight (featuring guest musicians including Williams and Pastorius on the last track) (1978). Singing through a vocoder , he earned a British hit, [15] "I Thought It Was You", although critics were unimpressed. [16] This led to more vocoder on 1979 follow-up, Feets, Don't Fail Me Now , which gave him another UK hit in "You Bet Your Love". [15] Albums such as Monster (1980), Magic Windows (1981), and Lite Me Up (1982) were some of Hancock's most criticized and unwelcomed albums, the market at the time being somewhat saturated with similar pop-jazz hybrids from the likes of former bandmate Hubbard. Hancock himself had quite a limited role in some of those albums, leaving singing, composing and even producing to others. Mr. Hands (1980) is perhaps the one album during this period, that was critically acclaimed.

To the delight of many fans, there were no vocals on the album, and one track featured Pastorius on bass. The album contained a wide variety of different styles, including a disco instrumental song, a Latin-jazz number and an electronic piece, in which Hancock plays alone with the help of computers. Hancock also found time to record more traditional jazz while creating more commercially oriented music. He toured with Williams and Carter in 1981, recording Herbie Hancock Trio , a five-track live album released only in Japan. A month later, he recorded Quartet with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis , released in the US the following year. Hancock, Williams and Carter toured internationally with Wynton and his brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis , in what was known as "VSOP II". This quintet can be heard on Marsalis's debut album on Columbia (1981). In 1984 VSOP II performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival as a sextet with Hancock, Williams, Carter, the Marsalis Brothers and the addition of a third member into the horn section by way of Bobby McFerrin contributing his unique vocal styling's.

In 1982 Hancock contributed to the Simple Minds album New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) , playing a synthesizer solo on the track "Hunter and the Hunted". In 1983, Hancock had a mainstream hit with the Grammy-award winning instrumental single " Rockit " from the album Future Shock . It was the first jazz hip-hop song [17] [18] [19] and became a worldwide anthem for the breakdancers and for the hip-hop culture of the 1980s. [20] [21] It was also the first mainstream single to feature scratching , and also featured an innovative animated music video, which was directed by Godley and Creme and showed several robot-like artworks by Jim Whiting . The video was a hit on MTV and reached No. 8 in the UK. [22] The video won in five categories at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards . This single ushered in a collaboration with noted bassist and producer Bill Laswell .

Hancock experimented with electronic music on a string of three LPs produced by Laswell: Future Shock (1983), the Grammy Award-winning Sound-System (1984), and Perfect Machine (1988). During this period, he appeared onstage at the Grammy Awards with Stevie Wonder , Howard Jones , and Thomas Dolby , in a synthesizer jam . Lesser known works from the 1980s are the live album Jazz Africa (1987) and the studio album Village Life (1984), which were recorded with Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso . [23] Also, in 1985 Hancock performed as a guest on the album So Red the Rose (1985) by the Duran Duran spinoff group Arcadia . He also provided introductory and closing comments for the PBS rebroadcast in the United States of the BBC educational series from the mid-1980s, Rockschool (not to be confused with the most recent Gene Simmons' Rock School series). In 1986 Hancock performed and acted in the film 'Round Midnight .

He also wrote the score/soundtrack, for which he won an Academy Award for Original Music Score . Often he would write music for TV commercials. "Maiden Voyage", in fact, started out as a cologne advertisement. At the end of the Perfect Machine tour, Hancock decided to leave Columbia Records after a 15-plus-year relationship. As of June 2005 almost half of his Columbia recordings have been remastered. The first three US releases, Sextant, Head Hunters and Thrust, as well as the last four releases,Future Shock, Sound-System, the soundtrack to Round Midnight, and Perfect Machine. Everything released in America from Man-Child (1975) to Quartet (1982) has yet to be remastered. Some albums, made and initially released in the US, were remastered between 1999 and 2001 in other countries. Hancock also re-released some of his Japan-only releases in the West, such as The Piano.

1990s to 2000[ edit ] Hancock live in concert After a break following his leaving of Columbia, Hancock, together with Carter, Williams, Shorter, and Davis admirer Wallace Roney , recorded A Tribute to Miles , which was released in 1994. The album contained two live recordings and studio recording classics, with Roney playing Davis's part as trumpet player. The album won a Grammy for best group album. He also toured with Jack DeJohnette , Dave Holland and Pat Metheny in 1990 on their Parallel Realities tour, which included a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1990. Hancock's next album, Dis Is da Drum , released in 1994, saw him return to acid jazz . Also in 1994, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization 's compilation album Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool . The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African-American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine .

1995's The New Standard found Hancock and an all-star band including John Scofield , DeJohnette and Michael Brecker , interpreting pop songs by Nirvana , Stevie Wonder , the Beatles , Prince , Peter Gabriel and others. A 1997 duet album with Shorter, entitled 1 + 1, was successful; the song "Aung San Suu Kyi" winning the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. Hancock also achieved great success in 1998 with his album Gershwin's World , which featured inventive readings of George and Ira Gershwin standards by Hancock and a plethora of guest stars, including Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Shorter. Hancock toured the world in support of Gershwin's World with a sextet that featured Cyro Baptista , Terri Lynne Carrington , Ira Coleman , Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson . 2000 to 2009[ edit ] In 2001 Hancock recorded Future2Future , which reunited Hancock with Laswell and featured doses of electronica as well as turntablist Rob Swift of The X-Ecutioners .

Hancock later toured with the band, and released a live concert DVD with a different lineup, which also included the "Rockit" music video. Also in 2001 Hancock partnered with Brecker and Roy Hargrove to record a live concert album saluting Davis and John Coltrane , entitled Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall , recorded live in Toronto. The threesome toured to support the album, and toured on-and-off through 2005. Hancock performing in concert, 2006 The year 2005 saw the release of a duet album called Possibilities . It featured duets with Carlos Santana , Paul Simon , Annie Lennox , John Mayer , Christina Aguilera , Sting and others. In 2006 Possibilities was nominated for Grammy Awards in two categories: "A Song for You", (featuring Aguilera) was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance , and "Gelo No Montanha", (featuring Trey Anastasio on guitar, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance , although neither nomination resulted in an award.

Also in 2005 Hancock toured Europe with a new quartet that included Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke , and explored textures ranging from ambient to straight jazz to African music . Plus, during the summer of 2005, Hancock re-staffed the famous Headhunters and went on tour with them, including a performance at The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. This lineup did not consist of any of the original Headhunters musicians. The group included Marcus Miller , Carrington, Loueke and Mayer. Hancock also served as the first artist in residence for Bonnaroo that summer. Also in 2006 Sony BMG Music Entertainment (which bought out Hancock's old label, Columbia Records) released the two-disc retrospective The Essential Herbie Hancock . This set was the first compilation of his work at Warner Bros., Blue Note, Columbia and Verve / Polygram . This became Hancock's second major compilation of work since the 2002 Columbia-only The Herbie Hancock Box, which was released at first in a plastic 4 × 4 cube then re-released in 2004 in a long box set.

Also in 2006, Hancock recorded a new song with Josh Groban and Eric Mouquet (co-founder of Deep Forest ), entitled "Machine". It is featured on Groban's CD Awake . Hancock also recorded and improvised with guitarist Loueke on Loueke's 1996 debut album Virgin Forest, on the ObliqSound label, resulting in two improvisational tracks – "Le Réveil des agneaux (The Awakening of the Lambs)" and "La Poursuite du lion (The Lion's Pursuit)". Hancock, a longtime associate and friend of Mitchell released a 2007 album, River: The Joni Letters , that paid tribute to her work with Norah Jones and Tina Turner , adding vocals to the album, [24] as did Corinne Bailey Rae . Leonard Cohen contributed a spoken piece set to Hancock's piano. Mitchell herself also made an appearance. The album was released on September 25, 2007, simultaneously with the release of Mitchell's newest album at that time: Shine .

[25] River won the 2008 Album of the Year Grammy Award, only the second time in history that a jazz album received either[ disambiguation needed ] honor. The album also won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and the song " Both Sides Now " was nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Solo. On June 14, 2008 Hancock performed with others at Rhythm on the Vine at the South Coast Winery in Temecula, California , for Shriners Hospitals for Children . The event raised $515,000 for Shriners Hospital. [26] On January 18, 2009 Hancock performed at the We Are One concert , marking the start of inaugural celebrations for American President Barack Obama . [27] Hancock also performed Rhapsody in Blue at the 2009 Classical BRIT Awards with classical pianist Lang Lang . Hancock was named as the Los Angeles Philharmonic 's creative chair for jazz for 2010–12.

[28] His latest work includes assisting the production of the Kanye West track "RoboCop", found on 808s & Heartbreak .[ citation needed ] Current work from 2010 to present[ edit ] Hancock on stage performing in Warszawa, Poland, November 29, 2010 with his Imagine Project. In June 2010 Hancock released The Imagine Project . On June 5, 2010 Hancock received an Alumni Award from his alma mater, Grinnell College . [29] On December 8, 2013 he was given the Kennedy Center Honors Award for achievement in the performing arts with artists like Snoop Dogg and Mixmaster Mike from the Beastie Boys performing his music. He appears on the 5th Flying Lotus studio album "You're Dead," released in October 2014. Gershwin's World - Herbie Hancock | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic Gershwin's World google+ AllMusic Review by Jim Newsom Gershwin's World is a tour de force for Herbie Hancock , transcending genre and label, and ranking among the finest recordings of his lengthy career.

Released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin 's birth, this disc features jazzman Hancock with a classy collection of special guests. The most surprising of Hancock 's guest stars is Joni Mitchell , who delivers a gorgeously sensual vocal on "The Man I Love," then provides an airy, worldly take on "Summertime." On these two tracks, she shows she has come a long way from her folksinger beginnings to become a first-class jazz singer in her own right. Stevie Wonder 's unmistakable harmonica complements Mitchell 's singing on "Summertime" and shares lead instrument space with his own voice on the W.C. Handy classic "St. Louis Blues." Jazzman extraordinaire Wayne Shorter smokes a solo spot on Duke Ellington 's "Cotton Tail" and carves out some space for his soprano saxophone in the midst of "Summertime." A number of the young lions of jazz are featured on various cuts, and Herbie 's old pal Chick Corea joins the leader for a piano duet of James P.

Johnson 's "Blueberry Rhyme." Gershwin 's wonderful, extended "Lullaby" finds Hancock teamed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as does an attractive arrangement of a "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" by Maurice Ravel , whose jazz influence can be heard on the piece. In addition, one of the most beautiful tracks on the album places star soprano Kathleen Battle 's voice at the forefront of Gershwin 's own "Prelude in C# Minor." Yet with all the fine performances by his guests, Gershwin's World remains Hancock 's show, and he plays magnificently throughout. From beautiful to funky, percussive to melodic, improvisational to tightly arranged, Hancock and cohorts take a wondrous journey through the music and world of Gershwin . Track Listing

Question: With which instrument do you associate jazz musician Herbie Hancock?
Answer: PIANO